Claiming benefits in Europe - EEA countries

Who can claim benefits in the EEA

You may be able to get benefits and other financial support if any of the following apply:

• you've lived, worked or studied (a recognised career qualification) in an EEA country
• you're a stateless person or refugee and you live in an EEA country
• you're a dependant or the widow or widower of anyone who was covered by the regulations (your nationality doesn't matter)
• you're the widow, widower or child of someone who worked in an EEA country and was not an EEA national or a stateless person or refugee (but you must be a national of that country)
• you're not an EEA or Swiss national but legally resident in the UK
• you've lived in the EEA country long enough to qualify

It's important you tell your Jobs and Benefits office if you plan to live permanently or temporarily in another country.

EEA countries

These are countries that have benefits arrangements or reciprocal agreements with the UK. The UK is Northern Ireland, England, Scotland, and Wales but not the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man.

This means you may be able to get benefits in the countries listed at the following link:

• Countries in the European Union and European Economic Area

Jobseeker's Allowance

If you're of working age but unemployed and actively seeking work, you may be able to get Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA).

Contribution-based JSA may be paid to people abroad, providing you satisfy the National Insurance contributions in the UK and meet the other conditions for entitlement to benefit. 

You may be able to get contribution-based JSA in the EEA for up to three months if you:

• are entitled to contribution-based JSA on the day you go abroad
• have registered as a jobseeker for at least four weeks before you leave
• are available for work and actively seeking work in Northern Ireland up to the day you leave
• are going abroad to look for work
• register for work at the equivalent of a Jobs and Benefits office in the country you are going to
• keep to the other country’s rules on registering and looking for work

Benefits if you're expecting or bringing up children

Statutory Maternity Pay

To help you to take time off work when you have a baby, you may be able to get Statutory Maternity Pay if the following apply:

• you've been employed by a UK employer in the EEA continuously for at least 26 weeks into the 15th week before the week your baby is due
• you're earning an average of at least £116 a week (before tax)

Maternity Allowance

If you're unable to get Statutory Maternity Pay, you may be able to get Maternity Allowance to help you take time off work when you're pregnant or have a new baby.

To qualify for Maternity Allowance you must have been:

• employed or self-employed for at least 26 of the 66 weeks before the week your baby is due
• have earned an average of £30 in any 13 weeks in the 66 weeks before the week your baby is due

Child Benefit

You will be able to get Child Benefit if you're bringing up a child or young person who is:

• aged under 16
• a young person under 19 (under 20 in some cases) who is either studying in full-time, non-advanced education (A level or equivalent) or on a government-funded training programme
• 16 or 17 years old and has recently left school and registered for work or training with the Careers or Connexions Service or similar

Guardian's Allowance

If you're bringing up a child or children for whom you're getting Child Benefit, you may be able to claim Guardian's Allowance if both the child's parents have died.

Sometimes you can get Guardian's Allowance if only one parent has died, for example, if:

• you don't know where the surviving parent is
• their parents were divorced or their civil partnership has been dissolved (certain conditions apply)
• the parents weren't married and the mother has died but it isn't known who the father is
• the surviving parent is in prison with a minimum two years left to serve, or is detained in a hospital by order of the court (certain regulations apply)

Benefits if you're ill or injured

Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance

Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance will be paid to people within the EEA and Switzerland, provided you satisfy the National Insurance contributions in Great Britain and meet the other conditions for entitlement to benefit. You should claim in the usual way and your claim will be referred to the International Pension Centre.

Severe Disablement Allowance

You can't make a new claim for Severe Disablement Allowance but if you're already getting the allowance, you may be able to claim it in another EEA country if before 6 April 2001 you were unable to work for at least 28 weeks in a row because of illness or disability.

Work accidents, diseases and deafness

You may be able to claim Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit for accidents at or in connection with work if any of the following apply:

• you were employed when the accident or event happened
• the work accident or event that caused your illness or disability happened in the UK (there are some exceptions you can ask Industrial Injuries Branch about)

You may also be able to claim Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit for diseases and deafness caused by certain types of work.

Statutory Sick Pay

If you work for a UK employer in the EEA, you will usually be able to get Statutory Sick Pay. You will get this as long as you qualify under the general rules.

Disability benefits

If you have a disability or you are a carer and you leave The United Kingdom to live in a EEA state or Switzerland, you may be able to receive your disability benefit abroad.

Your entitlement to Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payment and the amount is based on the information you told the Disability and Carers Service or PIP Centre in the UK. If there are any changes to the information it is your responsibility to tell them.

• Personal Independence Payment
• Disability Living Allowance for children
• Payment of disability benefits in other European countries

Bereavement benefits

If your husband, wife or civil partner died on or after 6 April 2017, you may be able to get Bereavement Support Payment.

You could be eligible if your partner either:

• paid National Insurance contributions for at least 25 weeks
• died because of an accident at work or a disease caused by work

When they died you must have been:

• under State Pension age
• living in the UK or a country that pays bereavement benefits

State Pension

You may be entitled to State Pension if:

• you've reached State Pension age
• you (or your husband, wife or civil partner) have enough qualifying years based on your National Insurance contributions (NICs)

To find out about your rights in another EEA country, you will need to contact the authorities who run the pension scheme in that country.

• State Pension for people living overseas

Winter Fuel Payments

You might be able to get Winter Fuel Payments to help pay for keeping warm in winter. The benefit is normally paid annually by Christmas.

Leaving the European Union (EU)

For information on leaving the EU, including the impact on benefits if you are an EU citizen in the UK or a UK national in the EU, visit the following page:

• Benefits and pensions for EEA and Swiss citizens in the UK
• Claiming benefits if you live, move or travel abroad: Overview

More useful links

• Pensions abroad